Chapter Text
John looks at his phone as he gets off the bus. 9:57. Three minutes to spare when he knocks on the door to the restaurant. The sign above reads “Escuella’s”. Through the tinted glass, John can make out multiple figures walking around. He tries the door, but it’s locked. Muffled voices speak amongst themselves inside the restaurant. Not that John would have been able to understand them anyways. It was obvious whatever they were saying wasn’t in English.
Finally, a man comes to the door. “Can I help you?” he asks through the glass. John fumbles over his words. “Oh, yeah. Name’s John. John Marston.” The man opens the door, leaning against the frame. His expression seems amused as he eyes John up and down. He’s slightly shorter than John, but the way the man was eyeballing him made John feel small and nervous. “Ah, yes. The convicted felon.” John feels his face heat up at that. Shame. “Come on, then.” The man beckons John to follow him inside. Inside the restaurant was nothing special. A typical dining area with booths and tables. One end of the restaurant even had a bar. John could now see and hear the other people clearly, although he still couldn’t understand what they were saying as they conversed with each other. An older man and a younger girl who looked to be about 15. John could hear more people in the back of the restaurant, too. The man and the girl both gave John weird looks as he passed them. This man was closer to John’s height, and far more muscular.
“Marston, this is my brother, Alejandro. He is our kitchen manager. And that’s my little sister, Inez.” The man leading John mentioned as he walked past. “Oh, I see. And.. your name is?” John asked. “Javier,” the man said. Javier lead John past the kitchen where a few other people were– Sebastian, Jose, and Mariana, Javier had said. Also siblings of his. Once they finally made it to the office in the back, Javier instructed for John to sit. John took off his jacket and sat in the plastic chair in front of the office desk. Javier sat in the chair behind the desk and pulled a notebook out of one of the drawers. He didn’t say anything for a while. As he waited for Javier to speak, John took to observing the room around him. There were what seemed to be family photos hung up and stacked all over the walls and shelves. The room itself was a pale green color.
Finally, Javier sighed. “Alright, Marston, I’m going to be straight with you. This is a family restaurant. We don’t hire outside of the family often, and when we do, it certainly isn’t people of your.. background.” John only nodded. Nerves twisted in his gut. “Your situation is very.. Unique. From what I understand, your brother called my father and begged him to hire you because you had gotten denied by every other job you applied to in the past two months. Correct?” John nodded again. “Yes, sir.” Javier grimaced. “Don’t call me sir. ‘Javier’ will do just fine.” “Right. Sorry.” Javier sighed again and leaned on the desk, propping himself up on his elbow. “I’ll be honest, I have no idea why my father agreed to hire you. If it had been up to me, I would’ve said no.” John grit his teeth, more from shame than anger. “I appreciate him givin’ me a chance.” Javier chuckled, “I’m sure you do. From what I understand, getting a job is a key point in your parole.” John nodded. “What exactly were you arrested for, Marston?” Javier’s words are cautious. It’s clear he’s uncomfortable bringing up the subject. “I was just a dumb kid,” John explains, “I fell in with the wrong crowd in highschool. I started doing drugs and I got addicted. Then I started selling. Finally got caught when I was eighteen.” “And you were sentenced ten years but got out two years early on parole,” Javier finished. “That’s correct,” John said. Javier nodded and leaned back in his chair. “I don’t want you starting any trouble, Marston.” “I won’t be any trouble, I swear. I’m done with all that,” John insisted. Javier nodded, “Bien. Because I will be in contact with your parole officer. He’ll be checking in, making sure you’re behaving, and I will report to him if you aren’t. Comprende?” John nods, “Yes, si- Javier. I understand.” Javier hums, seeming satisfied enough.
Javier reaches into the desk again and pulls out a hair tie. “Here. you’ll need to tie your hair back. Restaurant policy.” John complies, pulling his hair into a low ponytail as Javier continues. “You’ll be on dish duty. Pretty hard job to screw up.” Javier stands and leads John to the kitchen. He stops at a small desk near the entrance to the kitchen where a book and monitor sit. “When you come in to work, sign the book with your name and the time you arrived. Same thing when you’re leaving.” John nods in acknowledgement. Javier moves to the dishwasher, and John follows. “This part is simple. Dirty dishes go in one side, and come out clean on the other. You take the clean dishes and put them in their respective places so that our cooks can use them to serve the food on. Easy enough?” John nods. “Yeah, I got it.” “Alright, then. If you have any questions, just come find me or Alejandro. The others don’t speak much English. You don’t happen to know any Spanish, do you?” “Well,” John stutters, “I know some basics from highschool.” Javier snorts, “If you ask me where the library is, I’ll cut off your cajones and feed them to the customers.” John chuckles nervously, “I mean, I know some key phrases. The typical greetings and such.” “Well, from the looks of it, you’re stuck with us for a while, so we’ll see if we can’t get you speaking fluently within the year.”
The bus ride home was long. Although Javier had released John at 6, he didn’t end up getting back home until about 7:30. John’s older brother, Arthur, was sitting on the couch watching The Office when he made it in. He had also made chili apparently. Of course, Copper was the first to greet John when he walked through the door. The vizsla was quick to jump up John’s leg and try to lick him. John pet the dog, pushing him back to the ground as he wagged his tail.
“How was work?” Arthur lowered the volume of the tv. “Oh, you know.. Great for a shitty, minimum wage gig,” John called back as he took off his shoes. He then joined Arthur on the couch, propping his feet up on the coffee table. Arthur scoffed, “Well, you ain’t got many options. I had to grovel with that old man for hours to get you that job.” John sighs, “I know. And I appreciate it. ‘M still gonna bitch about it, though.” Arthur rolled his eyes. A notification pinged on Arthur’s phone, and he set down his bowl of chili to check it. John could see his face drop when he read the notification. “Everything alright?” He asked. Arthur took a minute to reply to the text on his phone before answering.
“Yeah, it’s fine.”
“Mary?” John asked.
Arthur shook his head, “I’m tryna take Isaac to the dinosaur museum this weekend.”
John frowns. Guilt pangs in his chest. “You know, I really appreciate you taking me in and all, but.. If Eliza won’t let you see him because of me-”
“It ain’t like that. She’ll let me see him.. She just don’t want him around you. ‘S why I’m tryin to take him out somewhere.” Arthur explains, but it only makes John feel worse. After being let out on parole, Arthur agreed to let John stay with him. In turn, his ex girlfriend told him their son, Isaac, couldn’t stay over anymore. She didn’t want him around a felon. She and Arthur have been arguing about it since. Arthur argues John is harmless, but Eliza won't hear it. So now, instead of having Isaac stay with him every weekend, Arthur has to settle for meeting with Eliza every couple weeks to see his son.
“Right..” John says, “Well, I’m gonna take a shower. My manager asked me to be in at the same time tomorrow.”
Arthur nods and goes back to watching the tv.